The influence of cheese composition and microstructure on the diffusion of macromolecules: A study using Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP)

Impact of Pressing Time on the Microstructure of Two Types of Goat Cheeses and Its Relationship With Sensory Attributes

The objective of this study was to study the impact of pressing time on the microstructure of goat cheese and its relationship with sensory attributes. The microstructure of the artisanal cheeses was performed by scanning electron microscopy and image analysis. The validation of the microstructural complexity was carried out experimentally with sensory attributes. The pressing time influenced the microstructural parameters Feretmax, Geodiam, and τ and the cheese type influenced the parameters Feretmax, Geodiam, and Geoelong. The correlation values between microstructural complexity and sensory attributes were 0.85 and 0.84 for fresh cheeses and matured cheeses, respectively. The pressure times of 12 and 18 h resulted in cheese microstructures with the highest complexity in terms of Feretmax, Geodiam, Geoelong, and τ parameters. The obtained results are supported by the correlation values between microstructural complexity and sensory attributes.

Implementation of plant extracts for cheddar-type cheese production in conjunction with FTIR and Raman spectroscopy comparison

Plant extracts have demonstrated the ability to act as coagulants for milk coagulation at an adequate concentration, wide temperatures and pH ranges. This research is focused on the use of different vegetative extracts such as Citrus aurnatium flower extract (CAFE), bromelain, fig latex, and melon extract as economical and beneficial coagulants in the development of plant-based cheddar-type cheese. The cheddar-type cheese samples were subjected to physicochemical analysis in comparison to controlled cheese samples made from acetic acid and rennet. The fat, moisture, protein, and salt contents remained the same over the storage period, but a slight decline was observed in pH. The Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) increased with the passage of the ripening period. The FTIR and Raman spectra showed exponential changes and qualitative estimates in the binding and vibrational structure of lipids and protein in plant-based cheeses. The higher FTIR and Raman spectra bands were observed in acid, rennet, bromelain, and CAFE due to their firm and strong texture of cheese while lower spectra were observed in cheese made from melon extract due to weak curdling and textural properties. These plant extracts are economical and easily available alternative sources for cheese production with higher protein and nutritional contents.

What's past is prologue: FRAP keeps delivering 50 years later

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) has emerged as one of the most widely utilized techniques to quantify binding and diffusion kinetics of biomolecules in biophysics. Since its inception in the mid-1970s, FRAP has been used to address an enormous array of questions including the characteristic features of lipid rafts, how cells regulate the viscosity of their cytoplasm, and the dynamics of biomolecules inside condensates formed by liquid-liquid phase separation. In this perspective, I briefly summarize the history of the field and discuss why FRAP has proven to be so incredibly versatile and popular. Next, I provide an overview of the extensive body of knowledge that has emerged on best practices for quantitative FRAP data analysis, followed by some recent examples of biological lessons learned using this powerful approach. Finally, I touch on new directions and opportunities for biophysicists to contribute to the continued development of this still-relevant research tool.

New Insights into Cheese Microstructure

Microscopy is often used to assist the development of cheese products, but manufacturers can benefit from a much broader application of these techniques to assess structure formation during processing and structural changes during storage. Microscopy can be used to benchmark processes, optimize process variables, and identify critical control points for process control. Microscopy can also assist the reverse engineering of desired product properties and help troubleshoot production problems to improve cheese quality. This approach can be extended using quantitative analysis, which enables further comparisons between structural features and functional measures used within industry, such as cheese meltability, shreddability, and stretchability, potentially allowing prediction and control of these properties. This review covers advances in the analysis of cheese microstructure, including new techniques, and outlines how these can be applied to understand and improve cheese manufacture.

Gel Properties of Soy Protein Isolate Modified by Lipoxygenase-Catalyzed Linoleic Acid Oxidation and Their Influence on Pepsin Diffusion and In Vitro Gastric Digestion

The model of lipoxygenase-catalyzed linoleic acid (LA) oxidation was selected as representative of a lipid peroxidation system to investigate the effects of oxidative modification on soybean protein isolate (SPI) gel properties and in vitro gastric digestion. Fluorescence recovery after the photobleaching (FRAP) technique was applied to evaluate pepsin diffusion in the gel. The results showed that oxidative modification increased the gel hardness as well as brought about a compact and three-dimensional network structure, which consequently decreased the water mobility as manifest by lowering the relaxation time of T_2b and T₂₁ from 0.55 and 3.22 ms for the control to 0.32 and 2.42 ms for 7LA+LOX (addition of 7 mL of LA and LOX), respectively. It was interesting to note that pepsin diffusion was significant correlated (p < 0.05) with T_2b and DH (degree of hydrolysis), indicating that water mobility might be a factor related to FITC-pepsin diffusion, which would ultimately influence the gel gastric digestion. Compared with native SPI, moderate oxidation can improve the digestibility of SPI gel by the summed effects of pepsin diffusion limitation, microstructure variation, and hydrolysis degree.

Physicochemical Changes and in Vitro Gastric Digestion of Modified Soybean Protein Induced by Lipoxygenase Catalyzed Linoleic Acid Oxidation

Protein oxidation results in structural modification which affects its digestion. The objective of this work was to investigate the influence of lipoxygenases (LOX) catalyzed linoleic acid (LA) oxidation on the structure and in vitro gastric digests of soybean protein isolate (SPI). Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) was used to evaluate the relationship between pepsin diffusion and gastric digestion. Results indicated that oxidation induced carbonyl formation and loss of free sulfhydryl. Increased surface hydrophobicity and zeta-potential verified the protein unfolding and thus resulted in a small particle size and low fluorescence intensity. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed that oxidation caused the increases in β-sheets mostly at the expense of α-helix and random coils. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-pepsin in SPI solution modified with 3 mL LA showed a faster diffusion rate with 80.51 μm²/s as well as a higher DH value of 9.11%, showing that pepsin diffusivity might play an important role in protein gastric digestion.

Layer by Layer Mesoporous Silica-Hyaluronic Acid-Cyclodextrin Bifunctional "Lamination": Study of the Application of Fluorescent Probe and Host⁻Guest Interactions in the Drug Delivery Field

The layer-by-layer technique was exploited to adjust the magnitude of the host⁻guest interactions between adamantane and cyclodextrin. The effect depends on numerous complex and changeable growth profiles of the films and the number of bilayers. These composite films of mesoporous silica nanoparticles and hyaluronic acid⁻cyclodextrin(HA-CD) were constructed to load the fluorescent dyes and peptides. The release rates of these molecules would decrease with an increase in the number of layers. A laser scanning confocal microscope was utilized to obtain the diffusion coefficient of fluorescein isothiocyanate. Hybrid films could be applied to increase the loading of different kinds of molecules and could also be integrated into the lamination to delay the rate of release.

Comparative Analysis of Small-Molecule Diffusivity in Different Fat Crystal Network

Oil migration and fat recrystallization in fat-structured food materials can result in significant deterioration in food quality. Consequently, it is important to monitor and quantify the diffusivities of the migrants in fat crystal network. The diffusion coefficients of Nile red dye in liquid oils through fully hydrogenated palm kernel oil (FHPKO)/triolein (OOO) and fully hydrogenated soybean oil (FHSO)/triolein (OOO) systems were evaluated by the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) method. The effective diffusion coefficients (D_eff) and mobile fraction (M_f) increased with the decrease of solid fat contents (SFC), with the changes of microstructure from more densely to slightly larger packed clusters for both FHPKO/OOO and FHSO/OOO systems. In addition, microstructural parameters of these systems were estimated by the image analysis. The results showed that the diffusion of dye and liquid oil was affected by the microstructure. The higher D_eff was associated with lower fractal dimensions, larger crystal thickness, and larger average particle sizes. Finally, higher-permeability coefficients were calculated according to Darcy's Law, and it was significantly correlated to the D_eff.